Pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinning preparation machines and spinning machines

ABSTRACT

A pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinning preparation machines and spinning machines is disclosed comprising suction means and means adapted to dispense puffs of air acting on the parts of the machine to be cleaned, so as to cause the dust and foreign particles adhering to these parts to be suspended in the surrounding air space, whereby said suspension is easily removed by suction.

IJite ttes atent 1191 Marzoli 1451 May 27, 1975 PNEUMATIC CLEANING PLANTFOR DRAWING SYSTEMS IN SPINNING PREPARATION MACHINES AND SPINNINGMACHINES [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Polli Marzoli & C.S.P.A., Italy [22] Filed: Aug. 2, 1973[21] Appl. No.: 384,974

Angelo Marzoli, Bergamo, Italy [30] Foreign Application Priority DataAug. 10, 1972 Italy 28081/72 521 U.S. c1. 19/245; 15/306 A; 19/263 511m. (:1 ..n01h 5/66 [58] Field OI Search 19/263, 245, 107; 57/56;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1964 Noguera 19/2633,237,249 3/1966 Aurich 19/245 3,346,926 10/ l 967 Andreani 3,387,3186/1968 Nagel et a1. 19/107 UX FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 982,6352/1965 United Kingdom 19/263 Primary Examiner- Dorsey Newton 5 7ABSTRACT A pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinningpreparation machines and spinning machines is disclosed comprisingsuction means and means adapted to dispense puffs of air acting on theparts of the machine to be cleaned, so as to cause the dust and foreignparticles adhering to these parts to be suspended in the surrounding airspace, whereby said suspension is easily removed by suction.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PNEUMATIC CLEANING PLANT FOR DRAWING SYSTEMSIN SPINNING PREPARATION MACHINES AND SPINNING MACHINES This inventionrelates to a pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinningpreparation machines and spinning machines.

In drawing systems of spinning preparation machines and spinningmachines, the yarn consisting of an assembly of different length fibresis notably subjected to strong tensile stresses because of which acertain amount of fibre, especially the short fibre, becomes separatedand dust forms. It is thus necessary to provide for cleaning the drawingmembers and removing the suspended fibres and fibrils and the dust.

Pneumatic cleaning devices are known consisting of suction nozzles fixedto the outlet of the grooved cylinders of the drawing system or close tosaid cylinders and the lower belts, with the purpose of sucking in andremoving the suspended fibres and fibrils, the dust and any broken yarn.Sometimes these known pneumatic devices are completed by mechanicalcleaning members, for example rubber bars, disposed in contact with thecylinders and belts.

The cleaning devices presently known and commonly applied are notcompletely satisfactory and give rise to various disadvantages. In thefirst place it should be noted that all known pneumatic devices limittheir action to the localised suction and removal of the free fibres andfibrils and the dust in suspension in the air, whereas they are not ableto efficiently remove the fibrils and dust which become deposited on thefixed members of the drawing system.

In the second place the suction nozzles which have small cross sectionsbecome easily and frequently blocked, because of which their suctionefficiently is greatly reduced after a few working hours and frequentmaintenance and cleaning of the nozzles are necessary.

Mechanical cleaners, in their turn, have the disadvantage of making themotion of the belts with which they are in contact irregular and tocause their rapid wear.

The object of this invention is to provide a pneumatic cleaning plantfree from the aforementioned disadvantages and able to carry out itsfunction with greater efficiency and durability without requiringfrequent maintenance operations.

This object is attained by forcedly provoking the suspension in air ofall the fibres, fibrils and dust which form in the zone of the drawingsystem and then sucking and removing said suspension from this zone.

Contrary to known devices which are limited to carrying out a pure andsimple suction operation, according to the present invention puffs ofpreferably mobile air are made to act in the space so as to also raisethose particles which may have been deposited on the members of thedrawing system and to mix them with the suspended particles, so formingwith them a suspension in air which can be easily sucked in and removed.

The pneumatic cleaning plant according to the invention for carrying outthe aforementioned concept comprises means for placing the zone of thedrawing system under suction, and mobile means for feeding air jets intosaid zone for striking the members of the drawing system.

The mobile means for feeding air jets may be provided with traversereciprocating or rotational motion and are connected by suitable tubesto at least one motorised fan. In an advantageous embodiment the meansfor feeding the air jets may consist of a component element of thedrawing system. Thus for example in drawing systems which control thefibres by belts, the means for feeding the air jets may be the hollowbar, suitably bored, which supports the brackets for the tensioningdevices of the lower belts; in this case the rotary motion may bederived from one of the lower drawing cylinders by means of a suitabledrive.

For putting the drawing system under suction it is convenient to disposebelow it a header in the form of a funnel extending over the entirelength of the machine and connected at its base by way of a slot with achannel connected in its tum to at least one motor driven suction fan.Said channel may be provided with openings for drawing in any brokenyarn or roving.

The invention will be further described and illustrated by way of anembodiment given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to theaccompanying figures.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic cross section through the assembly of drawingdevices in a spinning machine to which the plant according to theinvention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view from above of the system for feeding air underpressure;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic section analogous to that of FIG. 1 in whichthe plant according to the invention is applied to a spindle frame;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the derivation of motion for therotating air feed member;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the cleaning plant according to the inventionapplied over the entire length of the spindle frame.

FIGS. 1 and 3 show a drawing system in which the yarn 1 passes betweenpairs of drawing rollers 2 and 4 mounted in a lower support andrespective pressure rollers 5 and 7 rotatably mounted in a swinging arm8. The fibres of the yarn are controlled between these pairs of rollersby an upper belt 9 guided above a roller 3 and a lower belt 10 guidedabove a roller 6 and kept taut by a tensioning device Ill which issupported by a bracket 12 carried by a hollow bar 13.

Bars 14 and 15 driven with straight line reciprocating motion arebrought intermittently into contact with the surfaces of the drawingrollers 2 and 4 respectively. The yarn 1 leaving the drawing device isfed to the winding devices 16 (FIG. 3).

After this summary description of the constituent elements of thedrawing system, the zones in which it is necessary or opportune to carryout the cleaning action can be indicated.

As heretofore described the yarn is drawn in the zone between thedrawing rollers 2 and 4 by the effect of the pressure exerted by thecorresponding pressure rollers 5 and 7. Because of the increasing speedof rotation between the drawing rollers 2 and 4 the yarn undergoeselongation and is strongly stressed. Because of these stresses, shortfibres and fibrils become separated from the yarn (and dust is created),partly staying suspended and partly depositing especially on the fixedmembers.

The purpose of the belts 9 and 10 is to guide and control the yarn, andfibres, fibrils etc. also deposited on it.

The purpose of the bars 14 and 15 is to mechanically remove the fibrilsadhering to the surfaces of the drawing rollers 2 and 4. These aredriven with reciprocating motion so that they become intermittentlyremoved from the rollers and create a compulsory passage for theagitated air as will be explained hereinafter.

At the outlet of the drawing device there may be broken yarn or roving,especially at the time of starting the machine.

The cleaning plant according to the invention firstly provides means forfeeding jets of air at pressure into the drawing system zone in order toagitate and suspend in the air all the impurities including those whichmay have deposited on the members of the drawing system.

For this purpose a header channel 17 is provided which extends over theentire length of the machine and is supplied with air under pressurefrom a motor driven fan 34. Flexible pipes 18 lead from this channel 17.

In the case illustrated by way of example, one of said pipes 18 isprovided for every four spindles. Each pipe opens into a closed box 19traversed by the hollow bar 13, which within the box comprises holes 20so that the air under pressure can pass into the bar. As shown in FIG.2, the hollow bar 13 is provided with a plurality of holes 21 throughwhich the air under pressure can leave in the form of jets (see thearrows in FIGS. 1 and 3) so as to strike the members of the drawingsystem. By means of gears 22 and 23 (FIG. 4) mounted respectively on thehollow bar 13 and axle 24 of the drawing roller 2 together with theconnection between them by means of a chain 25, the drawing roller 2transmits its rotational motion to the bar 13 which consequently expelsthe air jets with turbulent motion. It is also evident that the air jetsleaving the holes 21 of the hollow bar 13 carry out a brushing action onthe various members of the drawing system so that existing impuritiescannot be deposited on them and they are instead effectively placed insuspension.

In order to remove this aeriform suspension of impurities from thedrawing system zone, below it there is disposed a funnel intake header28 the open mouth of which faces the members of the drawing system andwhich extends over the entire length of the machine. This intake headeris connected by way of a bottom slot 27 to a channel 26 which alsoextends over the entire length of the machine.

Two channel headers 29 extend from the channel 26 and are connected tothe suction ports of two motor driven suction fans 30, the deliveryports 31 of which convey the indrawn air and impurities to a channel 32and finally to a filter box 33, where the impurities are retained whilethe air is expelled into the room or to the outside. From thedescription it is clear that with the suction means the entire drawingsystem zone is placed under suction because of which the suspension ofimpurities formed by the air jets leaving the holes 21 in the hollow bar13 is drawn in and removed.

The channel 26 is also provided with suction ports 35 facing thedirection of the yarn or roving leaving the drawing systems, throughwhich any broken yarn or roving is sucked and removed.

The advantages of the plant according to the invention are evident fromthe foregoing description. With the mixing and suspension in air of allthe impurities (fibres, fibrils, dust etc.) by means of the rotating airjets, the impurities are prevented from coming to rest and depositing onthe members of the drawing systems and because the entire drawing systemzone is placed under suction, the impurities can be totally removed.Moreover, as there are no suction passages of small cross section thedanger of frequent blockages is avoided.

Naturally the plant described and illustrated by way of example issusceptible to numerous modifications without leaving the scope of thepresent invention.

Thus it is possible to use further motor driven fans and further motordriven suction fans according to the specific requirements of themachine to which the plant is applied.

The feeding of air under pressure could also take place by otherrotating or otherwise mobile members situated in the zone close to thedrawing systems.

Instead of a single header channel for the air under pressure, a numberof individual channels could be included.

The intake header instead of extending along the entire machine could bedivided into a number of compartments.

What I claim is:

l. A pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinningpreparation machines and spinning machines having drawing and belt driverollers comprising, in combination, means for placing a drawing systemzone under suction and comprising: a suction fan with outletcommunicating with the atmosphere outside said drawing system zone, anda funnel-shaped intake member connected to said suction fan; and blowingmeans having at least one movable member separated from said drawing andbelt drive rollers for feeding jets of air into said zone, said blowingmeans comprising at least one rotating movable member, with a pluralityof holes, and motor driven fan means connected to said rotating movablemember; said blowing means being a component of the drawing system; alower belt for the drawing system; and a tensioning device for saidlower belt, said component comprising a support bar for said tensioningdevice.

2. A plant as claimed in claim 1 wherein said funnelshaped intake memberis below said drawing system, and channel means for connecting saidintake member to said suction fan.

3. A plant as claimed in claim 1 including lower rollers of the drawingsystem, one of said lower rollers being linked to said rotating movablemember for applying rotary motion to said rotating movable member inwhich the rotary motion of the member for feeding jets of air is derivedfrom the movement of one of the lower rollers of the drawing system.

1. A pneumatic cleaning plant for drawing systems in spinningpreparation machines and spinning machines havinG drawing and belt driverollers comprising, in combination, means for placing a drawing systemzone under suction and comprising: a suction fan with outletcommunicating with the atmosphere outside said drawing system zone, anda funnel-shaped intake member connected to said suction fan; and blowingmeans having at least one movable member separated from said drawing andbelt drive rollers for feeding jets of air into said zone, said blowingmeans comprising at least one rotating movable member, with a pluralityof holes, and motor driven fan means connected to said rotating movablemember; said blowing means being a component of the drawing system; alower belt for the drawing system; and a tensioning device for saidlower belt, said component comprising a support bar for said tensioningdevice.
 2. A plant as claimed in claim 1 wherein said funnel-shapedintake member is below said drawing system, and channel means forconnecting said intake member to said suction fan.
 3. A plant as claimedin claim 1 including lower rollers of the drawing system, one of saidlower rollers being linked to said rotating movable member for applyingrotary motion to said rotating movable member in which the rotary motionof the member for feeding jets of air is derived from the movement ofone of the lower rollers of the drawing system.